File:Coast watch (1979) (20039461183).jpg

Title: Coast watch
Identifier: coastwatch00uncs_16 (find matches)
Year: 1979 (1970s)
Authors: UNC Sea Grant College Program
Subjects: Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology
Publisher: (Raleigh, N. C. : UNC Sea Grant College Program)
Contributing Library: State Library of North Carolina
Digitizing Sponsor: North Carolina Digital Heritage Center

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SEA SCIENCE
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TOP: The Wright Brothers made their historic flight at Kitty Hawk. BOTTOM: This NC ECONet weather station in Raleigh is one of many across the state. T3 JL^efore the Wright Brothers took off on Dec. 17,1903, the air was bitterly cold — 8 degrees with the chill factor, according to Wright Brothers National Memorial historian Darrell Collins. "There also was a nor'easter that morning with winds blowing from 27 to 30 miles per hour," Collins says. With the steady winds tearing down the coast, the brothers made history at Kitty Hawk with the first sustained flight in the air. What caused the windy conditions in December? There was probably a low-pressure system in the area, according to Len Pietrafesa, director of external affairs in the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at North Carolina State University. "December, January and February are the most active months for nor'easters on the Outer Banks," adds Pietrafesa, a former North Carolina Sea Grant researcher. "During a nor'easter, winds can get up to 70 mph." Throughout the year, windy conditions are commonplace along the Outer Banks. One reason for the high winds is the large amount of water around the area, including the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System — the second largest estuary in the United States. When wind hits land, the friction of trees and vegetation usually slows it down, says Pietrafesa. "However, the barrier islands are so narrow that the wind field doesn't recognize them as land," he adds. "The wind is generally 1 1/2 times to 2 1/2 times larger in magnitude on the Outer Banks than on the western side of the Pamlico Sound." During December 1999, the maximum wind speed at Cape Hatteras was 41 mph compared to 20 mph at Castle Hayne near Wilmington, which is only a mile from the ocean, according to the National Weather Service. Wind speed doubles as it blows from land to the ocean, says state climatologist Sethu Raman. The reverse happens when wind blows from ocean to land, decreasing the speed by half as it reaches land. "The wind stress — what creates the lift and forces an airplane up — is also 2 1/2 to 6 times larger at the Outer Banks than on the mainland," 24 WINTER 2003

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